Serre-Chevalier is one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world and perhaps the widest.  It is a very international and dynamic resort fast becoming the destination of the "jet-set" crowd.   Located where Italy, France and Provence meet it is comprised of 3 main villages and one town.   The skiing starts in the town of Briancon and ski lifts depart in each village, one quieter than the next, Chantemerle, Villeneuve and Monetier les-Bains which is at the end of the Guisane valley.  Although all the villages are connected by lifts advanced skiers staying in the lower villages of Chantemerle or Briancon are encouraged to take the free ski bus to Monetier where the advanced skiing is quickly accessed by a high-speed quad.  The resort is very wide and getting from Briancon to the upper-limits can take some time.  At the end of the valley starts the climb up towards the Col de Lauteret at 2050m.    The lower half of the resort is in a forest and the upper-half is wide-open terrain with excellent off-piste possibilities including seven in bounds bowls and four out-of-bounds bowls with fairly easy access.  Serre-Chevalier has the largest snow-making system in France which assures an early snow cover between the 2350m-village level.  The entire valley is tightly encircled by a ring of 4000m peaks which keep all but the snow clouds out.  The stratus typical in the Northern Alps, especially prominent from November-January and between 2300-3700m does not make it over the high mountains until a storm comes to lift them up (to about 4000-8000m) and turn them into big snow producing clouds.  The result is a region that experiences 300 days of sunshine and either sunny or very snowy days.  Imagine the climate of the Northern Alps: keep all the snowy days, replace all the cloudy days by sunshine and keep the sunny days.  Some call it paradise on earth.  Others call it 7th heaven.   I found it in Serre-Chevalier.  Cross-country skiers will enjoy the excellent skiing in the valley around Monetier and the several day itinerary possible in the neighbouring Queyras-the trace d’ Escarpon.  Aside from skiing the resort offers four very unique apres-ski activities: dog sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing on the ramparts of the ancient citadel walls, and soaking in the outdoor hot springs in Monetier-les-Bains.  The resort is located very near the Italian ski resort of Sestrière which will host the winter Olympics 2006 in Turin.  It is possible to ski one day in Sestrière with the 6-day ski pass allowing you to complete the famous Milky Way ski circuit.